Evaluation of permeation rates of soil fumigants through plastic films by the cup method

Abstract

This article presents a new approach for estimating the mass transfer coefficient (h, a measure of permeability) of fumigant compounds across several agricultural films. The assembled equipment provides a sealed permeability cell, where a film sample is set at the top of a static reservoir cell. Fumigant liquid is put into the cell and the gravimetric change of the cell is monitored sequentially over time using an analytical balance. The h of the fumigants across various plastic films were determined. Results show that the method is a sensitive and reproducible measure of film permeability, and suggest that film-fumigant combination and temperature had the largest impact on the h of fumigant compounds across films. Furthermore, the relative magnitude of the h on the fumigant and film material was predictable from the combination of their solubility parameters.